The Russian response to a sneeze

According to Russian etiquette norms, when a person sneezes, you are supposed to wish him or her health using an imperative mode. There are three forms for that: 

  • будь здоров (informal, the sneezing person is male);
  • будь здорова (informal, the sneezing person is female)
  • будьте здоровы (formal, a gender of the sneezing person is not important).

The sneezing person is expected to say ‘спасибо’ (= thank you), so don’t forget to thank if someone says ‘будь здоров(а)’ to you. 

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